At a gala ceremony in Hobart last week for the inaugural Australian Risk Management Awards, Ronwyn North of Streeton Consulting was awarded the Lumley Award for Best Risk Management Training and Education Program. Competition for the award was tight and the judges admitted it had been a tough decision.

North’s award-winning program had its genesis a decade ago when, in response to an escalating trend in professional liability claims, the Law Society of Western Australia and its insurance arm Law Mutual (WA) introduced mandatory risk management education for WA lawyers. Between 1995 and 2003, the number of lawyers requiring risk management education grew from 1,500 to 1,900, a sign of the enormity of the task.

Accepting the award in Hobart, North said: “It is very satisfying, both personally and professionally, to have a decade’s worth of work recognized.”

As a result of Streeton Consulting’s work with Law Mutual and the Law Society of WA, claims are now on a downward trend. But, said North, one of the most satisfying accomplishments of the program is that it has helped to demystify risk management and embed risk management concepts in the professional psyches of a generation of lawyers.

Other winners in the Australian Risk Management Awards 2004 included Accident Compensation Corporation of New Zealand, which took out the Risk Management Magazine Award for Outstanding Performance in Corporate Governance and Compliance, Yarra Valley Water, winners in both the LexisNexis Award for Best IT Security Strategy and the Protiviti Award for Best Implementation of Risk Strategy. Peter Janus of Alcoa Australia was named Vero Global & Risk Managed/RMIA Risk Manager of the Year.

For a full report on the Australian Risk Management Awards, see the December issue of Risk Management magazine. Contact Stuart Fagg, Editor, for details on how to subscribe to the magazine on (02) 9422 2355.